Birthday:March 30th 2005Likes:Well, belly rubs, jumping in mud, wrestling with bigger dogs, attacking tissues, making social rounds to every single person sitting in the park, beer, walks with Buster, getting phone calls, quiet time with Tom, the Dog WhispererPet-Peeves:Wearing that awful cone, itching, being alone, walking on rainy grass, people assuming I'm a poodle (as Dr. Phil says, "Get real, people!"), the groomer's (I suffer it with dignity)Favorite Toy:Rabbit pull toy, squeaky duck, red salamander, my lamb and llama, the ball with feet!, my life-sized teddy bear that Alli gave to me, upon whom I will stand on for an hour to simply gaze into its eyes (update: have de-socketed both eyes. Bear in rehab).Favorite Food:Bacon, cheese, carrots, chicken, french fries. And peanut buttuurh! And I inhale my kibble (Life's Abundance)Favorite Walk:To the dog park to play with friends! Kalorama Park is the BEST- we all run around without leashes. My best pals are Duncan, Cooper, Catchucha, Vida, Pirate and Nami. We play every morning and night!Best Tricks:Standing and balancing on my hind legs for treats. My ancestors fell out of favor with the royals then became circus dogs. I'm also a really fast runner, and my Laur calls it my bunny hop, since my two hind legs move together. Bounce, bounce.Arrival Story:So I was sitting on a cloud up in heaven anticipating my new life. I was doing that same impatient shuffle back and forth that I do when I have to go to the bathroom or want to get down from the bed. My human mother Lauren was busy looking all over- far and wide- for the perfect dog. For more than two years she kept talking about me, but didn't know where I was! She looked at all the kinds of dogs out there, and decided that a bichon would be the best fit. So she talked to lots and lots of breeders and found one all the way in British Columbia that she thought was wonderful. Then she saw pictures of me and my two brothers and two sisters, and she and my Tom knew that I was the one for them! So at 8 weeks I flew all the way from BC to Washington,DC, which is no small trip, folks! When Lauren picked me up at Reagan airport, I was shaking and a little scared. But as soon as she got me out and I met my Tom, I was happy as a clam. In fact, I went to the dog park the very first day I arrived and my Tom was more afraid of a big boxer named Parker than I was! I wanted to be his friend.Bio:I've never been afraid of ANY dog. That's why the troops in the neighborhood call me Fearless Francis. As soon as I'm old enough, I'm going to go to obedience school then train to be a therapy dog. Bichons often become therapy dogs, especially for elderly people, since we're so smart and calm and loving. I can't wait to go to the nursing homes and make new friends! ********************************** *********************
PS! The video below is of me seeing my Laur after she was away for a month. It's not on fast forward! I really am that nuts!
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PPS: If you care about rescue and adoption/puppy mill issues, please go to www.smallpawsrescue.org and subscribe to their email update list. They do a wonderful job of scooping up mill dogs at auctions, rehabilitating them and finding them loving homes. Also: petfinder.com and pets911.com are great sites where you can search by breed or location for sheltered/rescued dogs to adopt.
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Puppy mills are not only legal but oftentimes underwritten by the government (in a few states they're considered grant-worthy commercial farming industries). The more we learned about dog abuse and puppy mills, we realized that the economic lifeline of puppy mills runs directly from US pet stores. So we've gotten involved in trying to shut them down the only possible: by explaining the real answer to the question "How Much is That Doggy in the Window?" and cutting the financial cord between the shops and the mills. ********************************** ************
Stop by Dogster Force! group to join our discussion and find more good links.Forums Motto:Have a GOOD time, ALLL the time! RruFFThe Groups I'm In:*~BICHON LOVERS' CLUBHOUSE~* (BLC), Prayers for Pets, The Dogster ForceThe Last Forum I Posted In:Cases of NeglectFavorite Dirt:I like the kind of dirt that consumes my face and doesn't take no for an answer!

Origin of Name:I can proudly write that I was named after St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and nature. He was actually one of the best saints ever! He loved all living things, kind of like us dogs. We love (+love to smell) everybody unconditionally.

Washington Dogdays

I've been wondering this for a while now. Do humans get to go to heaven too? Or do they just toil and suffer and die, and that's it? I hope not, because it would be a shame for all of us dogs to be up there without our owners. I would sure miss my Laur and Tom. All of the treats and squeak toys in the afterlife wouldn't be much fun without humans around. Anyway, I'm going to bring this up at the park tomorrow, see what my friends think.

Hi Guys! Now I don't have many hangups, but I really don't like plastic bags on the ground. Sure, bags are great when they're serving their purpose, like carrying treats or food home, but not when they're just hanging out, empty, blowing all up and down the sidewalk and all over the place and making strange crinkly noises. This morning on the way to the park I stopped short suddenly, eyeing a white plastic bag in my way about 20 feet ahead of me. I growled at it and wouldn't move. Ooooh those bags!

Normally Tom has to pick the bag up and show me it's harmless, or sometimes he has to pick me up, or pull me along even...but today he knelt down and talked me through it, and then I was able to walk right past it all by myself! Yaay Francis! Yaay Tom!

I''m a lucky dog. I get to sleep in a big comfy human bed at night. At night, I usually hang out to sleep at the bottom of the bed, where it's nice and cool. But a few weeks ago I started waking up around 6:30 and trotting up to Tom and snuggling up next to him for an hour or so of Morning Coze before getting up time. Tom sleeps on his side usually, so I either crawl under his arm or nuzzle in close to his chest for some nice quiet time before we have to get up and face the day! It's kind of like orange juice- a pleasant way to start the morning. I love being cozy. It's one of my favorite things EVER. And I think my Tom likes it, too. Last night he fell asleep on the couch. I slept in my kennel on the floor until 6:30 rolled around, at which point I administered soft but effective grunting sounds while standing at the foot of the couch staring up at the sleeping human lump to get him to wake up and pick me up for our Morning Coze. Mmm. "Hygge" (that's the Danish word that Laur taught me, meaning coziness) is one fo the best things in the world to have. I'm lucky to have such a hygge owner.